Wreck the Garage
by Grykon
Summary: Following in my AU 50 Uncivil War story line 3x11 'Wreck the Halls' AU 50.010 Chaos breaks out in the Garage a few days before Christmas.
1. Chapter 1

**Greetings friends! I know I have only been posting every other day. Just been taking it easy, chilling and relaxing. Been looking at the future stories of the Show trying to figure out how to rework them into my Uncivil War story line and not really having a lot of inspiration. My re-imagining for Wreck The Halls has mostly been worked out. Should be one more chapter. Ice Ca-Cabes I'm really not sure what to do with, other than figuring out something for Walter and Paige to be fighting about but that episode is fairly tight and I don't know of anything I would want to change so I might just let it stand on its own. I can't see writing just a few argument scenes to replace why Paige and Walter were on the outs over Tim and posting them. Do you have an opinion? Do you want me to just write up the argument scenes and post, or do some kind of abbreviated story and put the change scenes in or what? One of my season 3 faves is coming up 'Sharknerdo' another one that would be difficult to change to the story line. Anyway if you want to input some thoughts, they are more than welcomed. I'll be going back to 'A Knight Among Monsters' when this story is finished. To the Adventure! -Tim**

* * *

Walter sat at his desk going through his mail when he opened an envelope without reading the name. As he pulled the letter out he read, "Ms Dineen, this is a reminder about your cabin rental for this Christmas. Your deposit only holds the cabin for a couple of more days. If we don't receive the rest of the rental price the cabin will go back to being available for rental. Sincerely, Timberland Rentals."

Walter swallowed hard as he instantly knew that it must have been something she had arranged to have a special family Christmas with Ralph and Tim. Thinking of Tim and he felt himself being pulled back, as his vision grew distant, sounds began to dim and distort. Cold sweat ran down his face and neck. He could see Tim standing by the monitor tree grinning. Walter pushed back from his desk, his hands out in front of him. Tim just grinned bigger as he drew his seal's knife out and began to walk towards him.

Walter grabbed his tablet and threw it at Tim and Tim just laughed as he easily dodged it and it slammed into one of the monitors breaking both. Everyone looked at the monitors and then over at Walter as he struggled to move further away. Cabe sat down the coffee pot and turned when he heard, "Cabe, Cabe help," Walter called out.

Cabe came running out of the kitchen, "Walt? What's wrong son?"

Walter pointed, "Tim's back, he's got his knife, please Cabe, help, he cut me bad."

"Not Good," Happy said as she got off the couch with Toby. "There was no sharp noise or phone ringing. What triggered this?"

Sylvester moved quickly away towards Paige's desk.

Paige moved up with Cabe, "Walter, baby, Tim's gone, he can't hurt you anymore."

Walter shook his head, "He's right there. Paige, grab Ralph and run, quickly. Cabe, turn around, he's right behind you."

"Son, he's not here, listen to Paige. Tim's dead," Cabe told him.

Walter looked at Paige and she nodded, "Cabe's right, Tim died weeks ago. He can never hurt you or anyone else ever again."

Tim smiled, "Don't worry nerd, I won't be far away or gone for long." Walter's hands came up and Walter grabbed his head as he closed his eyes. He dropped to the floor and sat there crying. Paige waved everyone else off and they all left the Garage as quickly and quietly as they could.

* * *

Paige walked up and knelt down next to him and took Walter into her arms, "It's okay baby, it's just me and you. It's okay."

Walter pulled her tightly against him, "Paige, it was so real, I knew it was happening but I couldn't stop it, I couldn't warn you, I couldn't do anything but experience it."

Paige nodded, "Dr Rizzuto told us there would be days like this, but no matter what, it's okay. Do you know what triggered it?"

Walter nodded, "A letter for you that got placed in my stack. I didn't realize it until I started reading it."

Paige frowned trying to figure out what letter could have caused it, "Is it okay if I get the letter to see it?"

Walter slowly nodded as he reluctantly let go of her. He watched as she slowly stood and stepped over to his desk. She picked up the letter and read it quickly before she tore it up and threw it in the trash can. She walked back over and knelt back down, "Walter I am so sorry, you must have thought it was a Christmas getaway for Tim and me. But that was enough to get you thinking about Tim right?"

Walter nodded.

"It wasn't. Back before Lake Tahoe there was so many issues with the team and Tim. I thought maybe if we all went away for Christmas, kind of like a retreat. Where we could all talk and get to know Tim and he could get to know each of us a little better it would help everyone coalesce together. I thought maybe things wouldn't be so antagonistic," Paige explained.

Walter nodded, "That was a reasonable idea. Thank you for continuing to think about the good of the team. And thank you for helping me."

Paige smiled as she kissed him.

Walter looked around wiping the tears from his face, "Where is everyone?"

"I didn't think they needed to be here for this," Paige smiled at him.

Walter nodded as he stood, he reached down and helped Paige to stand, "Thank you for that. But maybe in the future it would be okay if they are. It might help me breakthrough to the next level of EQ. I can use all the help I can get in that department."

Paige smiled as they kissed.

"Do you still want to go to that cabin?" Walter asked, his voice breaking nervously as they broke the kiss.

Shaking her head, "No, I want to celebrate a real Christmas here with my two men. Besides you both would be bored up there, no internet." She laughed.

Walter smiled, "But I bet the sky would be great for star gazing."

Paige's phone buzzed and she walked over and saw a text message from Cabe, "Is it okay to come back in?"

Paige smiled as she texted back, "All is well, come on in."

Walter walked over and unplugged the monitor as everyone started walking back into the Garage. Cabe cautiously walked up and gently put his hand on his shoulder, "You okay kid?"

Walter smiled, "I am now, thanks."

Toby walked up, "You know 197, you keep this up and we're going to have to start deducting equipment costs out of your check."

Walter looked at him for a moment and smiled, "Don't worry Toby, I'll replace the monitor and my tablet. Speaking of which, was you going to reimburse us for Paige's tablet you destroyed or do we need to withhold it from your check?"

Toby stared at him, "I thought Homeland was covering that for saving LA from a nuke."

Walter smiled, "I thought I was defending myself from a psychopath who was trying to kill me on company property."

"You made your point, I forgot you don't get humor," Toby told him.

"I get humor, well more now than I did. I forgot its only humor when its you doing it to someone else." Walter smiled at him.

Cabe had walked on over to Paige, "What happen to our boy?"

Paige looked at Walter a little nervously, "Whoever sorted the mail missed a piece to me. It was from a rental company about a cabin I had put a deposit on for Christmas."

Cabe nodded, "He read it and realized it was about a romantic weekend getaway with Tim?"

Paige nodded, "Well sort of, that's what he thought but I had done it back before Lake Tahoe. Everyone seemed to have such a problem with Tim, I thought we could all go to the cabin. Get to know each other better and work more efficiently together."

Cabe nodded, "Not a bad idea, actually it was probably a great idea, a weekend retreat, build some trust and see each other's true contributions to the team. But you should have said something to me, a buddy of mine has a really nice cabin we could have used."

Paige smiled, "I'll remember that if we need to do something like that in the future."

Cabe frowned, "Wait, who sorted the mail today?"

Paige shook her head, "Not sure."

"I think I do and I smell a big, fat, hat wearing rat. Doc," Cabe yelled.

Toby looked over from where he was talking with Walter, "What's up Jeeves?"

"You sorted the mail today didn't you?" Cabe accused him.

Happy looked up from her workbench. "Yea, I did, so?" Toby asked.

Cabe walked over to him, "So you saw the letter from that rental place addressed to Paige and you purposely put it in with Walter's so he would open it so you could run an experiment on him."

Happy walked over, "Doc?"

Walter looked over, "Toby?"

Toby put his hands up as he backed up away from all three of them, "It wasn't really an experiment. I had an educated guess what was inside and since Walter has been doing so well, I needed to see how he would respond to the stimuli."

"Damn you Toby, that isn't your call. Walter is seeing a Dr for what happened to him. You could have seriously caused an issue now." Paige yelled.

"Hey, it was your romantic getaway," Toby told her.

"It was no such thing, it was a retreat for the whole team to go to. So we could all work on trusting each other more with Tim, to be more efficient." Paige told him angrily.

Happy stepped up and slapped the back of his head, "Doesn't matter what it was, what it was for sure, was none of your business. You owe Walter and Paige both an apology."

Walter stepped up to Toby, "There are reasons Paige and I chose to see Dr Rizzuto over what has happened to us and not you. This stunt is a prime example of a reason why we didn't want to see you. I don't know why you did this and at this point I really don't care. You need to think about this and figure out why you thought it was okay to do this to us. I'm tired of being a punching bag for your idiocy. Keep it up and Scorpion will be looking for a new Dr."

Walter stared at him for almost a full minute before he turned and walked into the kitchen to get the broom and dustpan.

Paige picked up her phone, "Hi, yes, this is Paige Dineen, I need to see if Dr Rizzuto might have an opening so I could bring Walter in to see him." Paige looked at her watch, "Yes, we can be there by then. Thank you." Paige turned and stopped Walter as he came out of the kitchen, "Leave that for now, we got just enough time to get you over to Dr Rizzuto's."

Walter nodded as he put the broom and dustpan against the support column by her desk. He took her hand as she grabbed her purse and sweater and they walked out of the Garage together.

Happy half turned and pointed at the monitor tree. Toby looked at her, "What?"

"Clean up your mess before they get back," Happy told him.

"Hey, Walt did that. He can clean it up when he gets back," Toby told her.

Cabe stepped up in his face, "He did it because of your stupidity, so clean it up."

"Paige, Walter, its good to see you, come on in and grab some couch," Dr Rizzuto told them as they stepped into his office. "My receptionist mentioned you needed to come in today, did something happen?"

They both nodded and Paige explained what had happened at the Garage. "Do you know why he chose to do this?"

Walter nodded, "I'm pretty sure he's still mad over the whole married to Happy deal."

Dr Rizzuto sat shaking his head, "Speaking of that, how is that going?"

Paige smiled, "The divorce should be finalized next month."

Dr Rizzuto smiled, "Does this mean I can expect an invitation to your wedding in a couple of months?"

Paige blushed as Walter spoke up, "Well, if you want to come to Ireland, sure."

Dr Rizzuto laughed, "Why Ireland?"

"My parents want us to get married in the town's small church when we are finally ready," Walter smiled at Paige.

Dr Rizzuto grew serious, "You know if Toby had been acting in his professional capacity with you guys I would be bringing him up before the ethics board. That is completely indefensible. So let's talk about the letter."

* * *

After he finally finished cleaning up the mess Toby disengaged the monitor from the tree and carried it over to the recycle bin and tossed it in. Toby demanded, "There, you both happy now?"

"You know what, why don't you just stay pissy and get fired when they get back?" Happy told him as she walked away.

"For a guy with such a high IQ you really step into it a lot," Cabe told him.

"Whatever Cabe," Toby turned to walk over to his couch.

"No, it isn't 'whatever'. I had Sly do some statistics for me, do you know on over sixty percent of cases your expertise barely factors into the cases. Yet Walter keeps you on full payroll. You should start being a lot more grateful and less antagonistic." Cabe told him.

"He hid the fact that he was married to Happy from me," Toby said quietly.

Cabe nodded, "Now we come to the truth. You weren't concerned for Walter at all. You are still trying to exact a pound of flesh from him. Why aren't you doing it to Happy? She lied too, she even admitted she told Walter not to tell you. So why are you only trying to punish Walter?"

"Because I love her," Toby told him.

"Bull, you're just too much of a coward to pull this childish crap on her. But guess what, you are still pissing her off, keep it up and you are going to be out of work and your engagement is going to be off as well. You can't blame one without blaming the other," Cabe glared at him with disgust as he walked away.

* * *

Walter and Paige sat inside of Kovelsky's finishing their lunch after see Dr Rizzuto. "Paige, I'm really sorry we had to do this."

Paige smiled, "Walter, it isn't your fault. And even if it was, I am not bothered by it at all. I wish I had remembered that stupid reservation and had canceled it. I just don't get Toby."

Walter nodded, "I think he is still mad over the whole marriage issue."

"Well he better get over it quick because I am not going to put up with another stunt like this. If you don't, I'll fire him if I have too," Paige told him.

Walter smiled, "Well, now if we do that, we might have to replace Happy too."

Paige frowned, "You think she would quit if we fired him?"

Walter shrugged, "They both said they were a packaged deal now. I don't want to lose either but I really don't want to lose Happy. But if he is going to keep doing this nonsense then I got no choice. I can't let this go on anymore. You and Ralph don't deserve to have me freaking out anymore than I already do."

Paige smiled, "You don't deserve to have him messing with you either. What he did was mean and cruel."

Walter put his bankcard on the tray the server dropped off and as he looked out the window he saw they had set up a Christmas tree business in the empty lot across the street and he smiled, "How do you feel about taking a short drive before we go back?"

Paige looked at him, "Is there anything pressing back at the Garage?"

Walter shook his head.

Paige smiled, "Okay, where did you want to drive too?"

Walter pointed across the street, "We could go get a tree and put it up. We'll have to get some decorations for it though."

"Are you serious, a real tree? Sure, I'd love that," Paige told him as she leaned over and kissed him.

The waitress smiled as she picked up the tray, "Be right back."

* * *

Cabe's phone vibrated and he pulled it out. He saw a text from Walter, "Cabe, I need a hand can you come out front and help me please?" Cabe smiled as he turned and walked outside.

Walter got a number of bags of decorations out of the trunk of Paige's car and handed them to her. As Cabe came out the door Paige smiled as he held it open for her and she walked in. Cabe saw the tree on top of Paige's car, "Hey, nice tree kid, fifteen footer?"

Walter nodded as he smiled, "Thanks. I figured it would be a good thing to do for Paige and Ralph."

Cabe nodded, "You know, I need to apologize to you son. When we came back from Bulgaria, I remember saying some pretty harsh things to you concerning Paige. I've never been happier to be wrong, you still have a lot of rough edges dealing with people still, but at least with her they are getting a lot smoother. I'm proud of you."

Walter smiled, "Thanks."

* * *

Paige walked up to Happy at her workbench and looked at Toby on the couch, "Toby I need you over here so I can talk to you both."

Happy looked at Toby, "Not good."

"Damn right not good," Paige said as she watch Toby walk over. "Look Toby, this nonsense ends now. Walter and I both believe you did this out of pure petulance because of Walter and Happy not telling you that they were married. But this went way over the top and I am not putting up with it. You continue to lash out at Walter over it but you don't do anything to Happy over it. You pull anything again and you're fired. And if that means Happy walks then Happy walks. Walter and I are both in agreement on this."

Happy looked up at Toby, "Satisfied?" She looked at Paige, "Thanks for giving him another chance, but I'm not walking if you fire him over this nonsense. I'll be happy to throw him out the door for you if you want."


	2. Chapter 2

Happy and Toby watched as Paige walked up the ramp. The Garage door opened and they watched as Walter and Cabe carried the fifteen foot Christmas tree up to the loft. Once they were out of earshot, "What is wrong with you Doc?" Happy slugged his shoulder.

Toby looked shocked, "Me? What's wrong with you? I thought we were a packaged deal?"

Happy nodded, "Yea, over Walter trying to make us split up or demanding that one of us quit over it. Not over this idiocy. I thought you was finally past this? I thought we had an understanding over the marriage?"

"You and I did, not me and Walter," Toby told her as he walked over to his couch.

Happy followed along with him, "So you are just going to continue being an ass to him?"

Toby shrugged, "Look, I didn't think it would trigger anything. We've all talked about Tim numerous times with him and it's never been a trigger. I seriously didn't think the letter would. I was just kind of hoping to cause a bit of a tiff between them, making Walter jealous."

Happy shook her head, "Why? We're happy together, Walt's happier than either of us have ever seen him and Paige is crazy happy with him. Why are you ruining all of our happiness?"

"How is this ruining our happiness?" Toby looked up at Happy.

"How happy are you right now? I can promise you I am fifty levels below happy right now. You are so frustrating, like I told you in the hospital, you are like a little kid with his favorite toy but in this case you don't give a rat's ass about my happiness." Happy told him.

Toby looked down knowing she was right, "How do you figure that?"

"Because if you did you'd stop this, you might think you and the rest of them might think you are only punishing him but you are also punishing me. Tim nearly killed my best friend. Now he has nightmares about what happened and seeing him freaking out because he's so sure that Tim is back to hurt him hurts me." Happy told him.

Toby nodded, "Let's go upstairs so I can apologize."

Happy nodded as Toby got up.

Cabe was smiling, after getting the tree in the stand and cutting the binding off of it the tree slowly opened up into a beautiful full tree. "I think you are right, this corner is perfect for it," Cabe looked at Walter and Paige as they stood there smiling.

"Hey guys, can we talk for a minute?" Toby asked in subdued tones.

Walter and Paige looked at each other and then Walter nodded as they sat down on the love seat. Toby and Happy walked over and sat on the couch.

Toby looked from Happy to Walter, "First, I'm sorry for what I did this morning. With as much as we've all talked about him, I didn't think the letter would cause a trigger. I figured it might have caused you to get jealous and cause a tiff between you two which is all I really meant to happen. I know that's messed up, but Happy set me straight about all of it. I'm forgiving and forgetting the issue about you both being married and not telling me. I also promise I'm going to knock off the knucklehead stuff."

Walter looked at Paige and she nodded, "Fine, but this better be the last time Toby. Paige and Ralph come first in my life now and I won't tolerate you making me the cause of more anguish for them. I've done enough of that on my own."

Toby nodded as he got up and together with Happy he walked back down stairs.

Walter looked at Paige as she stroked his cheek, "Walter, you haven't caused me any anguish."

Walter smiled as he looked into her eyes, "Not even at the bottom of the tar pit?"

Paige stared at him for a moment and then raised her finger at him. Walter leaned in and kissed her finger and Paige smiled as they hugged.

Cabe looked over, "So do we decorate it now or you want to do it as a family later after we all leave?"

Walter looked at Cabe and then Paige, "Cabe could bring Allie over and the five of us can eat and then decorate it."

Paige returned his smile, "Sounds good to me."

Walter looked back at Cabe, "You heard the boss, we'll save the tree, bring Allie for dinner and we can decorate it tonight after we eat."

Cabe smiled, "I could bring Chinese over with me."

Paige smiled, "Oh Chinese sounds awesome."

* * *

Walter looked up from his laptop and saw the time, "Paige, don't you need to leave to pickup Ralph from school?"

Paige shook her head as she finished the case summary for the La Brie Tar Pits rescue. She looked at Walter, "Mom asked if she could pick him up and I told her it was okay."

Walter got nervous, "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

Paige smiled, "I'm trying to trust her a little more."

Toby looked up, "I think I would try trusting her with something less valuable, like maybe your liver."

Walter smiled.

Paige's phone buzzed and she picked it up and checked, "Mom said Ralph just got in the car."

Walter looked at his watch and mentally calculated the trip and set his timer.

Paige smiled as she watched him.

Walter was writing code when his timer went off and he looked at his watch and smiled as he turned it off. He stood up and started walking towards the door when they heard Ralph yell, "Mom."

* * *

Walter looked back at Paige as she looked up at him. He took off running as he opened the door he saw a man trying to drag Veronica towards a running car. Walter started running at them and the guy released Veronica and ran for the car. Walter stopped and looked at Veronica, "Are you okay?"

Veronica shook her head, "Not me, they got Ralph. You've got to help Ralph, Walter."

Paige came out of the Garage, "Ralph?"

Ralph looked out of the back window of the car, "Mom."

Walter ran towards the car as the guy was closing his door and the driver stepped on the accelerator. Walter reached out and grabbed the guy's arm and pulled and he fell out of the car and the driver hit the brakes. The guy jumped up before Walter slugged him. The guy hit him back and Walter fell as the guy jumped back into the car and they took off down the street.

Paige grabbed Veronica's car keys and jumped into her car as Cabe came running out with Toby and Happy. Paige started the car and threw it in reverse and floored the accelerator and the tires spun as it quickly pulled back as Paige stopped and put it in drive and cut the wheel and spun the car around to give chase. Walter jumped up and ran over and quickly climbed in as Paige took off after them.

"Happy, help Veronica, Doc, come with me, if this turns into a hostage situation we'll need you." Cabe told him as he climbed into his SUV and started it.

* * *

Walter reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and hit conference call and called Cabe and Sylvester and put it on speaker before sliding the phone into his shirt pocket.

"Guys, we're about three blocks behind the kidnappers, slowly gaining." Walter said as he heard them both pick up.

"Doc and I are right behind you guys," Cabe answered. They heard his siren kick on and his lights flashing.

"Happy and I are here with Veronica, she's got a nasty bump but otherwise okay." Sylvester answered.

Cabe looked at Toby, "Call 911."

Toby nodded and got his phone out and called, "911 please hold for the next operator."

"Priority, Homeland, 2835 Cabe Gallo," Cabe yelled.

"Connecting…911 operator 3652," the operator responded.

"I'm in pursuit with civilian Homeland contractors of a dark green sedan with a kidnapped child. Currently passing North Grand on Temple northbound, we need a road block at Douglas street." Cabe responded.

"Stand by, relaying information," the operator confirmed.

Ralph saw the two men were freaking and panicking and he saw this heading south really quick. He reached over and pulled down the back of the car seat and quickly crawled back into the trunk before pulling the seat back up. He felt along the back of the trunk and found the taillight and he kicked at it until it broke. As it let in more light he looked and found the tire iron. He grabbed the tire iron and began jabbing at the trunk lock until it broke. He was able to lift it a bit and looking out he saw his grandma's car a couple of streets back and gaining. He smiled seeing his Mom and Dad in the front seat and he could see Cabe's SUV right behind them.

Paige stared in horror seeing Ralph in the trunk, "Ralphy?"

"It's okay, he's a smart kid Paige. He's crawled into the trunk, minimizing his risk from a head on crash."

An LAPD squad car came flying around the corner almost sideswiping Veronica's car as they joined in pursuit.

As the two men came around the corner of Temple they came face to face with six LAPD squad cars blocking the road at Douglas and the driver slammed on the brakes. Ralph slammed into the back of the backseats as the trunk lid flew up and the car crashed into a parked car.

"Ralphy," Paige screamed as she slammed on her brakes. Walter jumped out and ran forward. He slid to a stop and reached in and grabbed Ralph, he pulled him out and ran back to Paige as Cabe came forward with Toby.

It took a bit of talking from Cabe to get the LAPD to stand down from Walter, Paige and Toby. Toby was quickly assessing Ralph's condition, "I believe he is fine, but I want to get some x-rays and maybe a CT to be sure." He looked at Paige as she knelt there next to Walter, his arm around her shoulders holding her tightly, with tears in her eyes. "Paige, I am sure he is fine, I know this hurts, but he's going to be just fine." Toby told her with all the compassion he had.

* * *

Walter and Paige sat in the small ER room looking over Ralph, Walter looked over to Paige, "This is killing me, what's taking them so long? Why can't they just tell us what is going on with Ralph? Is this what it was like for you when I've been in here so much?"

Paige smiled and slowly nodded, "I just had to trust they knew what they were doing and as soon as they had answers they would advise me."

Walter shook his head as he held her tighter, "I don't know how you did it. I feel like I am about to crawl out of my skin."

Paige smiled as she kissed Walter, "Mom, Dad?" Ralph called out.

They both jumped up and Paige fell over Ralph as she hugged and kissed him. Walter closed his eyes in relief as he reached out and placed his hand on Ralph's thigh.

It was nearly 7 p.m. when everyone walked into Kovelsky's to have dinner. As they all took seats around the large round table Paige looked at Walter and Cabe, "How'd we go from having Chinese to Kovelsky's?" Paige pouted.

Walter smiled, "Chinese tomorrow?" Paige perked up and nodded.

* * *

"See you guys tomorrow," Walter told everyone as Cabe dropped him, Paige and Ralph off at the Garage. Walter unlocked the door and they all stepped in and he reset the security system and locked the door back. "What a day," Walter said as he walked up the ramp with his arm around Paige's waist.

Paige looked at Ralph as he stopped in the living room admiring the Christmas tree, "Do you have any homework Ralph?"

Ralph nodded and then he turned around, "Where are my school books?"

"They're down here," Veronica said from below.

Ralph turned and ran down the ramp, "Grandma?"

"I'm going to kill her," Paige growled at Walter.

"I'll go get some plastic tarps and a shovel," Walter told.

Paige frowned for a moment and then smiled as she kissed him and they walked back down the ramp.

"Who were those men? What did they want?" Paige demanded.

"Sweetheart, I am so sorry, they worked for the people that shot at us that day. They were waiting outside when we got back." Veronica explained.

"Mom, you have made us all unsafe. If it was just me, I could handle that, but you have put Ralph and Walter at risk. I'm sorry you have got to go, now." Paige told her with tears in her eyes.

"I know sweetheart and I really am sorry. I'd already packed my bags. I was just waiting on you guys to get home so I could see how Ralph was. I wanted to be able to say goodbye to you in person. I've really enjoyed the last couple of weeks with you guys," Veronica told her.

"Walter, please take care of my babies and yourself," Veronica told him as she walked over and picked up her suitcase. She walked over and punched in her code on the security pad. She stepped over to the door and as she reached out for the knob Paige grabbed her and hugged her.

Paige cried, "I wish you hadn't done this, it's been nice having you around for a change."

Veronica smiled, "I'll miss you too."

Ralph and Walter stepped up and she hugged them both and then turned and left the Garage. Ralph turned and walked up to the loft slowly.

Paige grabbed Walter and began crying in his shoulder. Walter lifted his arms and gently put them around her as he hugged her tightly. "It hurts so much Walter," Paige cried.

Walter nodded, "I can only imagine it does my love. I'm sorry." He led her over to the couch and he sat down and pulled her down onto her lap and held her as she continued to cry.

After about fifteen minutes Walter lifted her chin and kissed her. "Want to go check on Ralph with me?"

Paige nodded with a small smile before she stood and Walter got up and they walked up to the loft hand in hand. They found Ralph sitting at the dining room table working on his homework. They paused in the living room as they could smell the pine scent of the tree. "Oh, that reminds me," Paige let go of Walter's hand and hurried into the kitchen. She got a pitcher of water and dug through the cabinet and pulled out some baby aspirin.

As she came back into the living room and Walter frowned, "Headache?"

Paige smiled, "And old trick to help maintain cut plants." She crushed up several aspirins and crawled under the tree and dumped them in the stand and then filled it with water.

* * *

**I hope you have enjoyed this re-imagining of 3x11! I realize some have thought Toby and Happy were a bit out of character but in the original series when Toby first found out about Walter and Happy he physically attacked Walter. In this re-imagining that same desire was there but he didn't get to do so. And for the most part since my story with Toby finding out he hasn't dealt with the issue. It was also aggravated by Happy threatening him if he tried to attack Walter. So what happens when you want to exact some kind of payback against someone but it's continually put on hold? That anger and frustration grows until it finds a release.**

**Happy has never been one to just blindly support Toby, privately or publicly when he's wrong. She's quick to physically assault him or at least call him out on his BS. And while I know they came together to stand against Walter over his ultimatum to either split up or one of them quit that was over a very specific situation and nothing since then ever demonstrated that she would go to the mat against Walter if she thought Walter was in the right. She even threaten to leave Toby over his gambling because it made her feel unsafe. Anyway I hope this helps you to see where this story is coming from and that it makes a bit more sense now. To the Adventure! -Tim**


End file.
